In its 55 year history, Spectrum has implemented numerous “best practice” innovations to provide students with the opportunity to direct and take ownership of their own learning. One of these is Interest Groups, where small groups of students from different classes select a topic and spend an intensive week learning about that topic and designing a unique project within it. Learning activities during Interest Groups include field trips, expert visits, deep research, and multi-disciplinary challenges designed by the teacher or group leader.
For a couple years COVID protocols impacted our ability to provide interest groups of mixed classrooms. Instead teachers provided many types of learning projects and challenges based on students’ interests within their classrooms or cohorts. Passion Projects, Personal Projects, Genius Hour, as well as themed activities like Apple Day, Pi Day, and Dino-Day helped provide meaningful and integrated learning challenges.
This winter, the teachers opted to use Interest Group week to have students design and implement “showcase” projects on topics on which they have already been working. Our Early classroom will showcase projects on the Solar System, Intermediate will showcase projects on Geology, and Upper will showcase projects on robotics, coding, or specific collaborative research they are doing in Belouga.
This showcase will take place in the classrooms, hallways, and Commons on Thursday, January 12 from 3:15-5:30pm. Preschool will have some of their “learning stations” on display, and we hope some of our preschool parents will explore the rest of the showcase to get a feel from students what Spectrum learning looks like as children progress up the levels. We will also have several examples of learning centers and stations that are part of our Spectrum approaches.
For Early and Preschool, the showcase is more like an open house where students can accompany their parents and explain the work, learning activities, or projects.
For Intermediate and Upper, presenting their learning to a real audience is a project expectation towards assessment. We are requesting Intermediate and Upper to stay for the entire time in order to present their projects to visitors who come throughout the Showcase.
In order to make this wonderful for children, we need our parents’ active presence and attentiveness! Please come in to see across the whole school our student work, and hear from students about it. Ask children questions, give feedback, and be part of a positive parent community, elevating our students’ sense of self, efficacy, and connection.
